England and Ubuntu, Ibuntu, everybody buntu...

My last word on the Political situation.....

The new Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says he wants to form a "new kind of Government".

Speaking after the Liberal Democrat party approved a formal coalition deal with the Conservative Party, he said he would not have entered into the agreement with the Tories unless he was "genuinely convinced it would offer the unique opportunity to deliver the kind of changes you and I believe in".

Mr Clegg said he hoped his time in power would be "the start of the new kind of politics I have always believed in, diverse, plural, where politicians of different persuasions come together to overcome their differences in order to deliver good government for the good of the country".

"I hope you will keep faith with us," Mr Clegg said to Lib Dem voters.

"Let us prove to you that we can serve you and this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do with total dedication to the interest of everyone in Great Britain."

The Lib Dem leader paid to tribute to Gordon Brown, who quit as prime minister on Tuesday evening. He described the Labour leader as a "towering figure for more than a decade in British politics." Mr Clegg said Mr Brown had acted with "grace and humility" over the last few days.

Sky News political correspondent Glen Oglaza said there was no triumphalism to Mr Clegg's speech, the words and promises being delivered in a workman-like manner.

"The most interesting part perhaps was the reassurance he sought to deliver to what he described as the seven million people who voted for the Liberal Democrats, accepting that some of them may find the governmental arrangement strange, assuring them he wouldn't have entered into it if he couldn't deliver," he said.

And that is why I voted for him.

.....so it comes to pass that the great British way of doing things has all clicked and whirred into place in that very Heath Robinson way that some of our greatest traditions do.... And hey Presto! New Government.

The country settles back into it's comfortable routine, like a slightly older gentleman relaxes into his comfortable winged back chair in the Library. Slips on his worn slippers, taps the remnants of his pipe out and picks up the paper to follow the goings-on in the crimea - or some such place.  Meanwhile the kids (Dave & Nick) are running round like headless chickens in the dining room.

"Betsy!!....  BETSY!!!" he hollers, for that is the name of the Nanny who keeps the kids in line. "Sort those damn kids out will you!?, I'm trying to read the bloody paper!".

Betsy emerges from the Kitchen, crown slightly askew, catches the two kids by the ear and tells them in no uncertain terms. "Now come along you two.  Stop messing about and get and do something more constructive with your time. You're always under my feet.  Form a government or something.  Didn't you hear him??"

England has spoken.

Let's hope that this time, in theory, a slightly more thoughtful bunch are at the reigns. As you were.     Keep Calm & Carry On.

Meanwhile back in Tech-land....

I kicked off a download of Ubuntu Netbook Edition yesterday PM (not Prime Minister, we're done with that for a while - pay attention). It comes it at a decent 700Mb and by 6pm last night it was sat ready and waiting for me to do something interesting with.

Mrs G's laptop has Windows Vista sitting on it and it is a constant source of annoyance for her which means it becomes grief for me. The biggest issue is it's speed. Vista is just bloaty and slow. It's WiFi network connection time is painful and getting things done is simply hard work. I understand that I'm spoiled what with having OSX and XP (Yes, XP really is OK nowadays, especially when compared to Vista) but it's just not good enough. I've heard good reports about Windows 7, but I figured I should try the new version of Ubuntu for free before shelling out the £100 to upgrade.

So first job is to create a bootable flash drive to install from if you're building on a Netbook. As I'm trialling on a Laptop, I can simply burn the .ISO image to a CD and boot from that. Building a bootable USB Stick takes a little bit of faffing, but once it's done you simply plug it in your netbook and boot off of that.

It says here:

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is optimised to run on a new category of affordable Internet-centric devices called netbooks. It includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their favourite applications.

Sounds perfect for Mrs G's needs although if it doesn't have Spider Solitaire and some elements of Open Office, my head will be on the block.

A boot off the new CD results in an impressive looking OS with plenty of quality features. WiFi came up straight away and operation (even from CD) is zippy. If I can find some time this evening perhaps a dual boot installation will be the preferred result. Good stuff.

At ease.